My Health Insurance of Washington reports that Regence Blue Shield is set to announce new Medicare r

Online, October 22, 2009 (Newswire.com) - Rates for Regence Blue Shield of Washington will be rising as of the first of the year. What does this mean for consumers?

If you are currently on the Regence MedAdvantage program, are thinking about joining, or know someone who is already a member, the rates will be rising fairly substantially. How substantially? All Regence will say at this time is that it is "more than we desired." New rates will be released by Regence on October 1st.

In addition, their least expensive program, called the "MedAdvantage + RX Core" program will be going away. If you are on the "Core" program already, you will be given the opportunity to move with no health screening to another of the Regence MedAdvantage plans within a set widow of time.

The explanation from Regence for the rate increase is that many more people than anticipated are using the benefits of the plan. Also, the dollar amounts used by participants have also been higher than expected. How much higher? About $90 higher per member per month.

Regence has further explained that the higher usage of benefits is due partially to economic conditions. As people fear losing income and/or the ability to pay future premiums, they have been seeking medical care in preparation for potentially not having access to it. Thus, more people using more care and more care dollars than planned.

For now, My Health Insurance of Washington advises Regence Medicare MedAdvantage members or prospective members to watch for the October 1st release of the new rates.

My Health Insurance of Washington specializes in helping individuals, families, the self-employed, and small business find quality health insurance plans to meet their financial needs. Based in Washington State, their sole focus in on Washington State Health Insurance. www.myhealthinsurancewa.com 1-877-877-9545